Image by Annie Drew.
Our campaign to restructure Venice’s relationship with cruise tourism has been featured in Italian national television network RAI, national newspaper Il Messaggero and local newspaper La Nuova Venezia.
For World Ocean Day 2020, We are here Venice co-hosted a virtual rally to Clean Up Cruising, where activists living in Nassau, Bahamas; Juneau and Hoonah, Alaska; Venice, Italy; Rockland, Maine; and Bergen, Norway spoke about their experiences with the cruise industry. The rally was also an opportunity to deliver a petition to Carnival Corporation, Norwegian Cruise Lines, MSC and Royal Caribbean signed by more than 20,000 people. The petition highlights how the COVID-19 scandal has thrust the cruise industry into the global spotlight and revealed the extent of less than responsible business practice, and demands that if cruise companies want to regain their social license and set sail again, they must listen to the shared demands of port communities all over the world: switch to cleaner fuels, end ocean dumping, adopt strong climate targets, and protect workers.